Simple
by loganslosscheetos
Summary: After a "simple mission" gone wrong, Max and Logan find themselves in an abandoned warehouse. Laced with humor. Pre-Season Two. It's better than I make it sound. I promise.


Simple  
  
Summary: After a "simple mission" gone wrong, Max and Logan find themselves in an abandoned warehouse. Pre-Season Two.  
  
Disclaimer: Mr. Help The Boat Is Sinking and Mr. Egg-Man own it and I don't. So there. That means I own nothing. Which is sort of sad.  
  
A/N: Takes place before season two... in season one just after when Logan could walk thanks to Max's blood. Because I like it that way.  
  
Dedication: To Linz, the loser who doesn't know how to spell her own name so she came up with a new way. Wow, Linz, that should totally be under your picture in the yearbook! Now, if you'll excuse me Linz, I have to go light a candle for our fallen show, then I gotta stab my Berman voo-doo doll.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Max let out an icy sigh and rubbed her numb hands together. Normally the cold wouldn't have bothered her, but she happened to be soaking wet, and that would cause just about anyone to be a little chilly.  
  
She turned to look at Logan, who was shivering under a paper thin blanket in the corner. She knew she should have been furious with him, since all of this was technically his fault, but she couldn't be mad at someone who could do nothing but chatter his teeth in response.  
  
"I know you don't think it's safe or anything," she spoke up. "But I'm going to start a fire."  
  
Max walked over to a stack of old, rotting wooden crates and began breaking them apart. When she got enough for a suitable, but controllable, fire, she tossed them in the middle of the room and began looking for a way to start a fire.  
  
"Uh, got any matches or anything by chance?" She asked Logan.  
  
Logan, still shivering, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a sopping wet match book. He threw them at Max's feet then retreated back under his thin blanket.  
  
"These'll help." Max muttered as she bent down and picked them up.  
  
Defeated, Max sat down on the cold cement floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her ankles and replayed the night in her head.  
  
* *  
  
Everything had started normally. Logan had pulled one of his famous "feed Max then make her do something crazy" nights. Now, that was fine with Max... until she found out what she would be doing.  
  
"Just a simple retrieval mission." He had said.  
  
"Nothing too difficult." He had said.  
  
"You'll be done before 8:30." He had said.  
  
"No real danger. It's hardly even guarded." He had said.  
  
"It'll be easy." He had said.  
  
Lies. Lies. Lies. All of it lies.  
  
Max couldn't for the life of her figure out why Logan thought breaking into one of the most secure buildings in Seattle was going to be easy. Maybe he had gone temporarily insane. She didn't know. The only thing she did know was that she was just as insane, if not more so, for listening to him.  
  
The plan was easy... or so Logan had said. Break into the Clevenger- McCauley Technological Institute, go to the seventh floor, grab the MP-11 microchip, and exit the building.  
  
Nice and simple... in some sort of demented universe maybe. Max knew she'd probably get shot or eaten alive by some horrible hellhounds, but for some reason, she still got into the Aztek with Logan and went with him.  
  
When they reached the building, Max nearly began to cry. The amount of security guards with beast dogs was ridiculous. The place also happened to have spotlights and very high chain-link fences. Oh yeah, smooth sailing.  
  
"Well," Logan said as Max opened her door. "If you could escape Manticore, you could certainly sneak into this little ole place totally unnoticed."  
  
Her response was simply slamming the car door in his face. Max could already tell that tonight was not going to be her night.  
  
By the grace of some higher power, Max was able to get past the guards and their woofers and she managed to stay out of the spotlight. She made it to the back of the building and that was her first bad experience.  
  
As she was about to climb the escape ladder up the roof, a flashlight shone on her face.  
  
"Stop right there."  
  
Max paused and inwardly sighed. She knew it. Damn Logan and his easy plans.  
  
"What're you doing here?" The guard asked.  
  
"I was gonna go up on the roof and look at the pretty view." Max said and took a few steps toward the guard.  
  
"Don't move or I let the dog go."  
  
Max looked down at the snarling beast that was next to the man. She glared at it then looked up at the guard.  
  
"I don't have time for this." She sighed.  
  
"Oh really?" The guard said and pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt. "Well, that's really too bad then 'cause I'm taking you in."  
  
"You failed the police exam, didn't you? That's why you're only a security guard, huh?"  
  
The guard, miffed and disgruntled, dropped the dog's leash and walked over to Max. Once he was where she wanted him, Max punched the guard. He made a small noise then slumped to the ground.  
  
The guard's furry sidekick growled then leaped at Max. Max struck it down and grabbed the handcuffs. She put them on the dog's paws and smiled. Now that was quick thinking.  
  
The interruptions taken care of, Max climbed the ladder and appeared without a sound on the roof. That, however, did not mean that she went unnoticed by a scientist who was trying to sneak a smoke.  
  
"Jesus Christ." Max groaned and rolled her eyes as the scientist approached her.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" He sneered.  
  
Instead of a witty retort, Max landed a punch on the scientist's chin and he was out for the count. Max stepped over him, shaking her head.  
  
She made it to the roof door and silently thanked the cigarette companies for giving the scientist an addiction that led to the door being wedged open for easy entrance and exit.  
  
Max slipped inside and made her way down a metal staircase. She went down four identical staircases until she reached the door with Seventh Floor painted next to it in bright yellow.  
  
"Oh, real covert." Max muttered and opened the door.  
  
She slipped through and looked up and down the dark hallway. Since there was no sign of any guards or their annoying yappers, Max began to look for door 247. She turned several corners and navigated through five hallways before she finally found it.  
  
She reached for the doorknob. Locked.  
  
Max nearly kicked the door in, but she figured that one of the great genius security guards might hear her, so she decided against it. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flat piece of plastic.  
  
She looked up and down the hallway, then slipped the plastic in the crack in the door and swiped it downward. The door clicked and Max tried the handle. It worked.  
  
She snuck inside and shut the door behind her. She adjusted her vision and let out a tortured sigh. The room was filled with filing cabinets. Rows and rows of filing cabinets. It was like filing cabinet pallooza, but not fun. Not fun at all.  
  
Max began searching through the filing cabinets, hoping that someone had screwed up and had labeled them by the contents. Specifically MP-11 CHIP INSIDE. Of course, none of them were labeled as such. They all had labels like FILES 10K - 40K and other insane things like that.  
  
Max managed to make the filing cabinet order in a giant math puzzle. If she was looking for MP-11 and the first chip in the first filing cabinet was MO- 42, then she would have to look in... Max did the math in her head, then got the number. FILES 22M - 54M.  
  
She opened the drawer and leafed through the folders. Once she had found what she needed, she pulled a folded up plastic bag from her pocket and placed the entire folder, which included the chip, into the bag. Logan had insisted that she bring the bag.  
  
Logan was on drugs. That had to be it. Logan was on drugs. Yes, that explained everything. Logan was just simply on drugs.  
  
Max closed the drawer and made her way to the door. She opened it and stepped out into the hallway. This was going to be another bad experience of the night.  
  
As soon as she stepped into the hallway, the lights turned on and four guns were trained on her. Max looked from one end of the hallway to the other. Only four guards and no menacing canines? And this was one of the most secure buildings in Seattle? Max feared for her nation's safety just then, but she was quickly brought back to the real world.  
  
"What've you got there, missy?" Guard One asked as they all closed in on her.  
  
"A plastic bag."  
  
"Funny." Guard Two said.  
  
"Well, I try."  
  
"All right, girlie," Guard Three said. "Just shut up and drop the files."  
  
"Drop them? Now, really, that's a stupid statement. If I risked my life for this stupid file, do you really think I'm just going to put it down now?"  
  
"She's got a smart mouth." Guard Four said. "Can we shoot 'er?"  
  
"No, no more blood stains." Guard One said. "You remember what the techies told us."  
  
"You know, this is a really lovely conversation we've got going here, but I really don't have time for this crap."  
  
"Cuff her." Guard One said and nodded at Guard Two.  
  
Guard Two nodded, took out his handcuffs, and slowly walked toward Max. She purposely let him grab her wrists, then while he was trying to get the cuff around her wrist, she grabbed his arm and twisted it back. She pulled him close to her and used him as a shield.  
  
"So inexperienced. Who trained you guys? The Sector Police?"  
  
Guards Three and Four rushed at Max. Guard Three grabbed her arm, but Max smashed Guard Three and Two together. That knocked them both out. While Guard Four was still stunned at her actions, Max used a method that had worked before: she punched him in the face.  
  
He went down, then it was only her and Guard One. He trained his gun on her, but Max could see the beads of sweat on the guy's forehead. He had nothing. She moved forward swiftly, grabbed his gun, then hit him on the back of the head with it. After he slumped to the floor, Max kicked his gun down the hallway and bent down to pick up her folder.  
  
"Maybe Logan was right. Maybe this is going to be easy."  
  
Max turned to go down the hallway and saw something that ruined her night further. At least seven guards were racing down the hallway for her. Max sighed then took off down the hallway.  
  
When she reached the staircase door, she tried to open it, but it was jammed. She sighed in frustration then kicked it open. She glanced down the hall then took off up the stairs.  
  
Once she reached the roof door, she silently thanked the cigarette companies one more time, then burst through the door. She shut it behind her and ran across the roof toward the ladder. She didn't even notice that it was pouring rain.  
  
Instead of simply stepping off the ladder, she decided to save time and skip the last few steps. Well, she didn't see the mud beneath and slipped in it. She fell backward and landed in some mud. She had the feeling that she had hit her head a little too hard, but there was no time to do anything about it.  
  
She shook it off and scrambled to her feet. She managed to avoid the spotlights again, but before she could reach the Aztek, she saw another thing simply ruined her night: Two guards were dragging an unconscious Logan into the building.  
  
Max tucked the folder inside her jacket then raced over to the guards.  
  
"Hey, whatcha doin'?" She said. When the first guard turned to look at her, she punched him, then while the other guard was distracted, she kicked him in the side of the head. They both fell to the ground, along with Logan.  
  
Max quickly threw Logan over her shoulder and ran for the Aztek.  
  
"You owe me." Max muttered to Logan's unconscious form.  
  
As she was about to reach the Aztek, an unwelcome guest appeared behind her. One of the growling beast dogs was only a few feet away. Max swore loudly and picked up her pace, but the dog kept coming.  
  
The dog lunged and managed to grab hold of Max's pant leg. It was just enough force to make her fall. Logan toppled on top of her as the dog viciously tried to bite her. Max pushed Logan aside, then kicked the dog.  
  
"I'm a puppy kicker! I'm a puppy kicker!" Max exclaimed as she got back on her feet.  
  
She grabbed Logan and managed to get to the Aztek. She opened the passenger side door and shoved Logan in, then she went to the driver's side. She thanked every god she could think of that the keys were still in the ignition, then she started the car and sped off.  
  
*  
  
A little while down the road, Max's vision began to blur and she began to see double. She blinked it away for as long as she could, but after a while she knew she had to stop. She cursed whatever she hit her head on to hell, then stopped in front of a muddy road.  
  
She read a sign next the road. Crow-Kira Construction Warehouse. Max decided it was better than nothing, so she drove down the muddy road until she reached a run-down and obviously out of use warehouse.  
  
She looked at Logan and sighed. She turned off the car and opened her door.  
  
"Uh, well, I'm going to check the place out." Max shook her head, unsure of why she had just said something to Logan, who couldn't even hear her.  
  
Max sighed as she walked through the rain and into the building. She looked around and noticed a blanket in the corner. She also noticed that since the building had been all closed up, some heat had been trapped inside.  
  
Figuring that the warehouse would be warmer than the car, Max went back and brought Logan inside. She found a ratty old blanket that some squatters must have been using and put it over Logan.  
  
She then sighed and looked around. Seeing nothing else to do, Max sat down on the floor and thought of what to do now.  
  
* *  
  
"M-M-Matches're dry."  
  
Logan's voice pulled Max out of her thoughts and she looked at him. He was still in the corner, slightly shivering.  
  
"So they are." Max said quietly and picked up the matches. She went over to the pile of wood she had created and stood a minute.  
  
Then she got an idea. She pulled the plastic bag from her jacket and smiled. She took the contents from the folder and put them back in the bag, then she lit a match and held it to the folder.  
  
*Come on.* She thought. *I've already had one of the worst days. Just please light. Don't give me any trouble. Not now.*  
  
Max took a deep breath and held the match to the folder. After a second, it managed to catch. Max slowly blew on that, making the flame grow. After it did, she held the larger flame to the wood. Once it caught, Max smiled and stood up.  
  
She held her hands over the flame and looked at Logan with a smile.  
  
"Well, we've got a fire." She said. "Want to move closer?"  
  
Logan slightly nodded then scooted forward a few feet.  
  
"See, we'll be warm in no time and in the morning, we can leave. Just so you don't have to ask, I'm going to smother the fire with that blanket. Anyway, my vision is still a little blurry, so once you're dry and less hypothermia man, we can go."  
  
Logan nodded at Max's statement and they both looked into the fire.  
  
THE END 


End file.
